My intuition was that the verb to wear could be used in two ways (besides all its other senses that is.)
- A "stative" sense related to the state of having clothes (etc) on.
- A "dynamic" sense related to the action of putting clothes on, donning clothes.
I was surprised to find that all the dictionaries I've checked online support only the first, stative sense, and none supported the second, dynamic sense.
Is my intuition at fault? Are the dictionaries just being a tad prescriptive with this? What do other sources such as grammar and other fields of linguistics have to say about this, if anything?
I've found some supporting evidence for my intuition in the Wikipedia article for stative verbs:
3. They do not occur as imperatives, except when used in an inchoative manner.
- Run!
- *Know the answer!
- Know thyself! (inchoative, not stative; archaic)
Examples of dynamic wear I can think up are mostly imperatives:
- Wear a coat if you're going outside!
(But I've never had a good grasp of the inchoative, so maybe there's a gap, or maybe it depends on who is analysing?
Best Answer
"I'm wearing the coat" means that I already have a coat on, not that I'm putting on a coat.
When wear is used in the imperative sense, typically what is meant that the person should arrive somewhere later with the clothing on already, or include the clothing as part of getting dressed fully, not immediately put on the clothing at that moment.
If for some reason someone wanted to tell someone to put something on using the word wear it would generally need a now with it - i.e. "Wear these gloves now."